Part of Her
by purplespectacls
Summary: What if the power to bring back Rose Tyler was located in the heart of the TARDIS? What if the TARDIS got tired of waiting for The Doctor to figure it out? Reunion fic, post-Doomsday. Post Donna, but not bc I don't love her.
1. The Greatest Thing

Disclaimer- RTD may have my soul, but I have...zip zilch.

Title- Part of Her

Chapter One

Rating- T ( Could possibly change in future chapters)

Time- Set prior to established Series Four. I'm sending Donna home for a while. Not 'cause I don't love her, but I don't need her (perfect) comic relief right now. I will bring her back at..some...point.

Author's Note- So this has always been my take on how I would bring Rose back. I mean, we've seen what the time vortex is capable... I have ideas for three or four chapters of this particular story, and at least one more story to follow this one and another unrelated one (about a land of pears). Actually that one could be up in a few days... if you guys like me! P.S.- Thanks to Jessa L'Rynn fpr picking up on my confusing the words millenia and century. You can tell when I write things at 3 a.m.!

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Part of Her

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I am the TARDIS. For a millenia (or so) I have travelled with a man called the Doctor. A man who is much, much more than a man and actually (now that I think of it) really not a man at all. At first things had been so happy, my Doctor was so carefree. But then the Time War happened. And so many, many people died, and a bit of my brilliant Doctor died along with them, just a bit. So he did what he knew to do best, he bottled himself up. Companions came and companions went, and the Doctor ran, ran, ran. Until he ran smack into the basement of a London shop. I think that on that day Rose Tyler saved my Doctor, just a bit

And for a while things were happy again, and this time my Doctor would laugh as he ran, ran, ran. Until he ran smack into the daleks. While they tried to kill us all, Rose Tyler decided to save the world. Looked me in the very heart, she did. And boy, what did she see. Absorbing all my energy, the brave, mad little girl became the big bad wolf.

So on and so forth and the Doctor changed, as he does from time to time. Chipper and cheeky now, they continued to run, run, run. Rose Tyler ran with the Doctor through time and space (and relative dimensions), both believing that they would run forever. Until I made an...error. Wires crossed, paths tangled together and all that until I found myself crashing down upon 2012 (not-)London through a soon-closing dimensional rift. Again, smack into the daleks (and a few cybermen to boot.) Stuck between a void and a hard place, Rose Tyler once again got the brilliant idea to save the world. It didn't take a time vortex this time, simply the right lever at the wrong time. Then she was gone, stuck in the wrong dimension. And a bit more of my Doctor died.

He bottled himself up. Companions came and companions went, and the broken Doctor ran, ran, ran. His world would have continued running, running, running along if not for one thing. My Doctor was absolutely, completely, irrevocably, stupidly in love with Rose Tyler. So stupidly in love with Rose Tyler that he could hardly function. Chipper and cheeky on the outside, his inside was what worried me. For a while there he tried everything to bring Rose back from the other side of the Void.

Everything except me. Rose Tyler and I formed a bond when she looked into my soul. My Doctor tried his best to pull all of my energy out of her and back into me, but things with Rose Tyler never quite work out as planned. Its that little bit of energy that binds us. Even now if I concentrate, I can see her, feel her. And though I realize her (human) brain can't comprehend telepathy on its own, I'm sure my energy is a nagging feeling she's never been able to shake, just a bit.

And after all those times he and I saved the world, running, running, running, after that day Rose Tyler used looked into the time vortex. If my soul can destroy an entire race of daleks and grant immortality, does he really think I can't pull one little girl through a dimensional void?

Let's see what Rose Tyler thinks.


	2. Imagine Knowing Me

Disclaimer- RTD may have my soul, but I have...zip zilch.

Title- Part of Her

Chapter Two

Rating- T ( Could possibly change in future chapters)

Time- Set prior to established Series Four. I'm sending Donna home for a while. Not 'cause I don't love her, but I don't need her (perfect) comic relief right now. I will bring her back at..some...point.

Author's Note- Long ass chapter, compared to the last one. Thank you for the quick, handy, and kind reviews though. Just to be clear, **this entire story is NOT told from the POV of the TARDIS.** I'm sorry if that disappoints anyone, but its really hard to write in the voice of a 'character' that doesn't actually...talk. That said, thanks for reading and I promise any and all questions and curiousness will be answered in time :)

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Part of Her

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She hated being frazzled. But here she was, frazzled as hell. And with a quick glance at her watch she let out a groan that sounded as stressed out as she was. _Late _**and **_frazzled_, she amended. According to the offending timepiece on her wrist, Rose had fifteen minutes to finish filing her paperwork, get her car out of the Torchwood parking structure, and drive half an hour through the midday London traffic to get to her sister's birthday party at Pete's estate. Another birthday already for her sweet baby sister. Rose could have sworn it was only yesterday she watched as her mum and Pete brought home the squirming pink bundle.But here it was her birthday again, and Rose was late for the party. _Where's a time machine when you need one?_

_Time machine._ The thought stopped her dead in her tracks. Dropping her stack of progress sheets and evaluation reports, she plopped herself back onto the nearby office chair, blowing a chunk of blonde hair out of her face with a puff of air. _Time machine._ She had been doing so good lately, doing her best to put the Doctor and his ship behind her. When she was with her family, or Mickey, or the co-workers at Torchwood she could stand, she could fight back the memories, drown them out using the people around her. And then in times like these, when she was alone, it was almost like could feel them, if she really thought about. If she could just close her eyes and focus, she swore she could almost get back to him...

_This universe has gotten much too small for you, Rose Tyler._ Rose shot up straight in her chair, eyes wide open. "Whose there?" Blonde hair swinging, she looked from one side of her office to the other. Was that voice in her head? It couldn't have been. _Not out there, in here._ Rose jumped again, knowing now that it was most definitely inside her brain. "Who are you? Whoever you are, you better get out of my head if you know what's good for you. Not exactly a safe place to be." She mumbled the last bit to herself. _Always sarcastic. _She shook her head, trying to adjust to the voice that wasn't hers. _You travel around time in space with someone for years, Rose Tyler, and you can't even recognize them through a simple telepathic link? The human brain really is a marvel in its simplicity._

Rose felt her heart skip a beat. It was absolutely, completely, stupidly impossible that it could be him. But after this long, after all this time without him, she found herself more than willing to jump at the impossible. "Doctor? Is that you? Why are you in my head? And why do you sound like a woman? My god. Doctor, are you a woman now?" _Close. Almost. Not the Doctor and a not woman. I'm more gender-neutral, technically. Although he tends to refer to me with feminine pronouns and such. Men and their ships, after all. _Taking the first of many steadying breaths, Rose tried to wrap her head around this. "Ship? Do you mean, are you the TARDIS? How can I hear you in my head? You said yourself my brain can't handle telepathy. What the hell is going on?" _Not much time, Rose Tyler. Nine minutes to be exact before my connection fails. So we've only time to run through the basics. Remember when you went ahead and tapped into my time vortex, and our Doctor had to suck it right back out of you? Well, he missed a spot. And ever since you and I have had a link, a connection. I ignored it at first. I could only see snippits of your thoughts, nothing new to me. And I'm sure you've felt it too, some nagging, lingering feeling you just couldn't place. But then you got trapped here, in this version of London. And the Doctor became completely miserable. So I formed a theory. I figured that maybe, if I could harness rift energy and divert it to the bond between us I could strengthen it, build it up. Enough build up and maybe I could use it to pull you back through. So every time we landed on a rift to refuel, I stored bits of power away, directly into my heart. I'm not quite sure how it works, to be honest. Or if it even will. But more or less I'm going to pull back the piece of me still inside of you, and you will get pulled along for the ride. _

Another steadying breath. "I can go back? All this time later. I'm sure he's moved on. A dozen younger, blonder plus-ones." She fought back a wave of anger. "How dare anyone-anything just dangle the Doctor in front of me, like all along I could have just popped back and forth for a casual visit. Are you trying to drive me mad?" _This is no casual visit, Rose Tyler. If you come with me, it can't be undone. You must choose which world you want to live in. The one with the family you've always wanted, or the one with your Doctor and his broken hearts._

"But my mum? And Mickey! And Pete, what about my dad? I've only just gotten to know him. I really can't see them? " Rose stopped to catch her breath, head swirling. She wasn't sure she could do this, never see her family again. With a jolt she was hit with another realization, one that brought prickling tears to her eyes."Joanie?! I'll never get to see her finish growing up. I'm going to miss her birthday. Mum and Pete can't handle her by themselves, they can barely take care of each other. I can never, ever see them again?"

_Never say never ever, Rose Tyler. But it is quite possible you won't see your family again. Is My Doctor worth that much to you?_

A split second was all she needed. She shook her head clear of any indecision and looked up towards the heavens. "He's everything." This time the tears sprang free as she knew the choice she was about to make. "I love him. Oh god, do I love him." She sniffed back a sob and instead let out a weak laugh. "And we both know its impossible to live without him, yeah?"

_Seven minutes until my power supply shorts out. When you're ready to go just close your eyes and think of my control room, I'll handle the rest._

For a moment the connection faded, and again it was just Rose in her office. Taking a moment to breathe, she lunged for her Torchwood stationary pad, the type with a sheet of carbon between yellow and white pieces of paper_. _She generally used it to keep track of memos she wrote to her colleagues throughout the office. She had never planned on using to to write a farewell letter to her family. But as fast and as calmly as she could muster, she wrote it. And when she was finished she ripped it from the notepad. Taping the white half to her computer monitor, she grabbed her handbag from the desk and shoved the yellow copy inside. _Six minutes_ a voice inside whispered. She wondered if it was her or the TARDIS. Looking around her desk, she grabbed a few pictures and knick-knacks and slid them into her bag. Slinging it over her shoulder, she stood from her chair and wiped away what she could of her tears, trying to make her face look decent. _For the Doctor._

Pushing her hair from her face and tucking it behind her ears, she closed her eyes to concentrate. She was thinking about the blinking lights of the TARDIS console, the warm glow that came from nowhere. She could almost feel the scratchy coral against her fingertips, the metal grates of the floor beneath her feet. _Here we go._ Suddenly, she felt a gust of wind and a sensation like something was tugging her from behind, pulling her far from her office, from London, from her family. Blinding light and more tugging, and suddenly she was somewhere else entirely.

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The Doctor never thought you could describe a biscuit as forlorn, but this one hanging from his mouth was really, truly a forlorn biscuit. It didn't quite taste happy enough for a proper biscuit, didn't have the kick or oomph that was pivotal in a decent biscuit . Or maybe he just had too much time to think lately. It had been a week since he dropped Donna off at home, and he'd found himself wandering through space ever since. Her grandfather had fallen ill and while she promised someday she would find him again, he couldn't help but feel a bit like his biscuit. Forlorn. Even his ship was barely paying attention to him as of late. But things would get better, because they always did. Bury away the pain and find himself a new companion, a new distraction. Someone who would help him run and laugh and not think so much about that damned Rose Tyler. Sitting back in his captain's chair, he shut his eyes and pushed his trainers against the console. With a sigh, he stretched his legs, bending the chair back into a reclining motion and brought his hand to his forehead in an attempt to smooth the creases that had settled firmly into it. Just as he felt his brow relax, there was a loud crack, that seemed to come from the console, followed by a brilliant flash of white-hot light. He leapt from his chair, forearm shielding his eyes from the flare of light. Once he felt his eyes had adjusted, he made his way closer to the source of the brightness. It may have been the near-blindness throwing him off a bit, but he could've sworn it was almost coming from the heart of the TARDIS. Just then, the light vanished, as if some one had flipped a switch. Burning still from the light, his eyes adjusted more slowly this time. He could just barely make out a blurry figure, blurry and human but that was about all he could make out. Out of the now-dim light of the control room, he heard a voice call out to him. And he swore he felt a heart stop.

"Doctor?"


	3. Just Can't Get Ahold Of It

Disclaimer- RTD may have my soul, but I have...zip zilch.

Title- Part of Her

Chapter Three

Rating- T ( Could possibly change in future chapters)

Time- Set prior to established Series Four. I'm sending Donna home for a while. Not 'cause I don't love her, but I don't need her (perfect) comic relief right now. I will bring her back at..some...point.

Author's Note- Slightly shorter chapter. I really hope I accomplished this chapter in the way I set out. Angry Doctor was a new writing experience for me. Actually, I've never written DW fan fiction so this entire story is a dive into the unknown. Thank you for being so great with reviews! The more I get, the faster I pump out new chapters!

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Part of Her

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He could see her now. Plain as the nose on his face, the figure in front of him crystal clearly Rose. Or something that knew enough about him to look like Rose, to really torture him. Rose stood there, eyes overflowing with tears. It was her Doctor, the same tall, quirky, brilliant Doctor that she had been torn away from so long ago. As she began to speak again, she saw something in his demeanor change. His eyes grew cold and she watched as his entire body tensed. "You aren't her." He propelled himself forward, finger pointing at her acquisitively. "I don't know what you are, but Rose Tyler is dead to this world." Rose had never seen such anger rip through him before. "I know, I watched. I watched something pull her from this universe into another and I can never, never get her back. Not ever." He smiled a bitter, angry smile that frightened her to the core. "But you know that, don't you? Course you do. You are some twisted alien that feeds off of people's hopes. Shows them what they want, what they need most and then rips it away. Is that it?" All Rose could do was stand there and stare, shaking her head fiercely and crying now enough for both of them. She wanted to run at him, to scream, to tell him it was her. But she was frozen in place. At her silence, his temper only rose. "Why won't you answer me? What are you?" He was screaming at this point, hand shaking as he continued to point it at her. "Say something!" Rose swallowed, tried to convince her vocal chords to work. "Say something!" He repeated, louder still. "I'll give you one word, and if that one word does not explain exactly who you are, you and I are going to have a bit of trouble." Pulling his hand back and digging into his pocket, he brought out his sonic screwdriver, brandishing it like a weapon.

Startled, the blonde across from him backed up a step. _One word._ How could she possibly, in a single word, prove to the Doctor that she was herself, not some alien shape shifter set out to break his spirits. She needed something. A memory, an image, a thought, anything to make herself real to him. Rose bit her full bottom lip, both to keep herself from crying any harder and in an attempt to help focus her thoughts. And then it came to her. Crazy and ridiculous, the thought of it made her lips curl into a small smile, even with the pissed-off Doctor waving a potential weapon at her. It was one of her simplest, fondest memories of her time with the Doctor, and she hoped a single insane word would be all it took to bring the memory back to him too._ Worth a shot. _Her eyes fluttered towards the floor and she braced herself, rolling the word around in her mouth for a moment before speaking.

"Raxicoricofallipatorius." _Oh yeah, still got it. _Quickly, she flicked her eyes back up to the last of the time lords, watching for a reaction. He had dropped his hands to his side, sonic screwdriver rolling about forgotten on the floor and she could see the wheels in his head turning, churning the shock in his brain over an over until something finally clicked. Rose watched as a small smile started at the corner of his mouth and exploded into one that was all bemusement, wonder, and relief. "Raxicoricofallipatorious." He returned, his tone ringing of gratitude. Rose Tyler bloody well never ceased to amaze him, and he found himself bubbling from happiness that was nearly two years in the making. He had no idea how she had made it back from Pete's world but right now he had more important things on his mind. The Doctor was a hair's breadth away from running to Rose when he stopped himself. _Something is about to happen._ Joy having heightened his senses, he grabbed the nearest bit of the control panel to hold onto, and Rose wordlessly followed suit. No sooner did they latch on but the lights within the TARDIS seemed to blink out, until the only light came from the piston-filled Time Rotor above the console, doing its best to keep pumping with hardly any energy left. "Fast six minutes, that was." Rose muttered under her breath, holding on tight as the ship began to hop about, feeling a bit like a pebble being skimmed across a very vast and bumpy pond. All other thoughts left the Doctors abnormally large brain as he went into captain-overdrive. "Oh now look, she's gone and drained her energy somehow. Rose, I need you to grab that big toggle switch over there and, well, toggle." she obliged, pushing the switch up and down with her right hand while holding on to keep herself upright with her left. She watched in the partial blue light being emitted as the Doctor rushed around, poking buttons and twisting control wheels about, all the while muttering about auto-pilot and cruise control. "Now, I've got a back up power cell somewhere," he paused to retrieve his sonic device from the floor and set it to use as a torch," I just can't quite remember where i left it."

"Over there." Rose yelled, pointing to a spot under the grated floor that she remembered him having pointed out before. He followed her line of sight and, a bit dramatically, slid across the floor to arrive at the correct floor panel. Lifting it up and tossing it aside, he dove half of his body into the opening. What he was doing was anyone's guess, but Rose grinned and listened, making out snatches of the Doctor whispering sweet encouraging nothings to his ship in the hopes of getting the power cell to work. His worked paid off a moment later when the lights, although dimmer than usually, all blinked back on. Just as he had regained his footing and dusted off his suit, the TARDIS gave one final great lurch in attempt to right herself and both the blonde and not-ginger fell to the floor, rolling about in mild hysterics like it was any other day in their previous life together.

Soon after they sat up, still laughing. The Doctor turned to face her and sat cross-legged on the grated floor. Rose mimicked his action, so close that their knees touched. Once the joy subsided, she stole a glance back up at him. He sat looking at her, a calm expression on his face and his right hand resting at the base of his neck. He was beautiful. Suddenly, the Doctor leaned in close, and she felt a wave of familiarity wash over, like they were about to conspire their way to victory one more time. 'My Rose. God, I have missed this.' he sighed, shaking his head slightly. Before she could say anything in return, he pulled forward, closing the distance between them and pressing his lips to hers. Knees touching and noses touching and lips touching and Rose and the Doctor forgot how to tell one another apart.

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Thank you for reading and if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions, just drop it into a review :

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	4. People In Between

Disclaimer- RTD may have my soul, but I have...zip zilch.

Title- Part of Her

Chapter Four

Rating- T ( Could possibly change in future chapters)

Time- Set prior to established Series Four. I'm sending Donna home for a while. Not 'cause I don't love her, but I don't need her (perfect) comic relief right now. I will bring her back at..some...point.

Author's Note- Sorry this took so long to get updated, but as an apology we have a gigantic chapter. I was going to split it into two parts but I like each chapter to have a different feel and I just wouldn't have gotten that. Generally each chapter accomplishes something and if I have chopped this off where I wanted to one of the halves would have felt like filler. So here you go :)

Also, I'd like to thank** iamat100 **and** -Emaililyy-Aand-Lucyy- (and others!) **for fantastic reviews. Its great to hear what readers like about a story! And **-Emaililyy-Aand-Lucyy-, its funny how you should mention Captain Jack... ;)**

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Part of Her

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_I kissed her.._

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_He kissed me..._

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Laying in their own respective beds in their own respective corners of the TARDIS, Rose Tyler and the Doctor were thinking the exact same respective thoughts. Although, admittedly, the emotions tangled up with that thought varied for each individual. Confusion was there, obviously. But while Rose was fighting back giddiness that grew from the pit of her stomach, the Doctor was holding off the urge to bash him self about the forehead. Repeatedly. _Stupid, stupid time lord. Bad time lord._ He knew better, of course. He had set up rules for this sort of... **this**... centuries ago. _Rule Number One: Don't kiss your companion_. Although, yeah, they tended to kiss him, but that really wasn't his fault. He could only control his actions, not his... kissability. _But this was so much more than just kissing your companion. _That little voice in the back of his head could be a real pain in the arse. _Rule Number Two: Don't acknowledge the fact that kissing your companion was so much more than kissing your companion._ There was a reason he really hated rules. So... overruling. But they had their place, and he knew that. When it came to a companion, _to Rose_, there was no place for his emotions, no room for feelings, no opportunity for him to be quixotic. _When you have forever, you can't love the ones that don't. _

_No, no, no_. The Doctor shook his head briskly, sending hair astray and pushing his thoughts to the recesses of his mind. Readjusting his glasses, he pushed himself deeper into his bed. Contrary to popular beliefs he did sleep, loved to sleep. Was told he inherited it from his mother. But at this particular moment he was not the least bit tired. He was simply hiding.After that kiss had broken apart, he had jumped up, quicker than Rose had ever seen. He remembered muttering some kind of apology. He panicked, suggested that she needed a good night's sleep before they talk, was too jostled by what he had done to even consider worrying about how the hell she was here. He had watched her, still sitting on the floor and watching him right back and there was nothing he could do but tug nervously at his eye. God, was she a sight. Hair having been pushed behind her ears, she had a small grin on her face, tongue just barely poking through. She was beautiful. When he asked her if she could find her old room okay, her grin faltered._ Disappointed._ Before she could get up, he was off. And here he hid.

Sleep. Really? Rose had just given up her family, been pulled through a time vortex, and had telepathic conversations with a ship, and the Doctor really expected her to sleep? She tried, really she did. In her old bedroom (that was exactly as she left it) Rose gave her best to snuggle into her old pink duvet and drift off to sleep. Buried deep enough into her bed that all anyone would see of her was a tuft of blonde hair, she tried her best to think sleep-like thoughts. _Not Doctor's lips-like thoughts. Not that she didn't like the Doctor's lips. _Sighing, she pushed her thoughts into the recesses of her mind. Her mind that did not want to sleep. Frustrated, she kicked off her duvet and pulled herself out of the bed. Walking over to her full-length mirror, she examined her reflection. She had pulled her favorite pair of pajamas from the wardrobe once she had been exiled to her room. Once snug, the pink boxer short now hung slightly from her hips, and the t-shirt didn't accentuate her curves quite as closely as it once had. Working all the time had taken a toll, not to mention the fact that she hadn't been hungry for chips since she came to Pete's World. "Enough of this." she spoke to no one while spinning on her heels and making her way to the door._ I came all this way to be with the Doctor, I'm not about to stay holed up in here._

The door was open when she reached his bedroom. Her presence not yet noticed, she crossed her arms and rested her hip against the doorway, content to watch him. He had those same black spectacles on, and a pair of blue 'jim-jams' with white pinstripes. Nose in a well-worn book (Agatha Christie: An Autobiography), he was so engrossed that she stole away a few more moments, flickering her gaze from his rumpled hair to the hands holding onto the book to the tiny, tiny dimple in his chin. She had missed every molecule of him. When the Doctor finally caught on there was the briefest flash of surprise in his expressive brown eyes, but his face soon settled back into that same relaxed and relieved smile. _Before we kissed._

"Hello." he said warmly, sitting up further in bed and closing the book into his lap. "Hello." Rose echoed the greeting softly, but kept her place in the doorway. He quirked an eyebrow slightly towards her, as if to ask her what was going on. "Sorry, its silly. Really, it is. Its just, I'm not really used to sleeping alone." This time a flicker of jealousy went across his face and Rose laughed aloud, realizing she may have misspoke. Taking one step and then another into the room, she explained herself. "No, I didn't mean...no. No." She stressed."I meant my sister, Joanie. Mum bought her a 'big girl' bed a while back, and she absolutely hated sleeping in it. But you don't exactly tell Mum that. For as long as she's been walking, she's come in and crawled into bed with me after everyone else passes out. Our little secret." Rose's voice was laced with sadness, and the Doctor patted a spot of bed next to him, motioning for her to sit. She sat down next to him and pulled her feet up under herself. She rubbed her hand along his duvet, savoring the familiar texture. Golden crepe en chine silk, Rose laughed quietly as she thought to herself about the day she had fallen asleep on top of this bedspread while waiting for the Doctor to pick out a tie. _Polka dots or stripes: the eternal question. _Now she smiled at him softly, did her best to change the current conversation topic. "How's the book?" Turning it over in his lap so she could see the cover, she looked up at him and watched a laugh form in his cheeks. The Doctor suppressed it though and settled for a bit of vague modesty. "Brilliant, as ever. Just checking to make sure that I'm still not in it...never mind that, though." He took in a deep breath and suddenly Rose knew what he was about to say. " Why, no, not why. Rose, _how_ are you here?" Peering down his nose at her, through his glasses, the Doctor waited.

And so Rose told him everything.

The Doctor sat in stunned silence, before jumping up and starting to pace about. "What? What? I should have got that! I should have known!" He looked up, and Rose could tell he was speaking to the ship. "You! Why didn't you tell me?" The lights dimmed deeper for a moment in what Rose guessed was an apology. "She didn't want to risk you stopping her." Rose answered on the TARDIS' behalf. "There was too much ready to go wrong." He turned his head back to Rose, more sad now then angry. He sat down on the bed again, and Rose noticed that his whole body seemed a bit smaller. She slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. He turned his dark eyes to hers, and smiled sadly. "What about your family?" Without a word, Rose got up from the bed, and left the room. She returned a moment later holding her pocket booth and fishing around for something. She sat back on the bed and passed a crumpled yellow piece of paper to the Doctor. He instantly recognized the blonde's loopy, scribbled handwriting (and did his best to ignore the Torchwood logo on the stationary.) Pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, he brought the note in front of his face and read.

"_Mum,_

_ I know you are going to be right angry at me, and I'm sorry. And I know it sounds impossible, but I've found a way back to the Doctor. I don't have much time, but before I go you need to understand. After all, you got Dad back after nearly two decades, but I know if you could have found a way to him sooner you would have. It may not be the same with the Doctor, but its also not that different. Ever since I left him, I feel like I've just been floating, orbiting around nothing and waiting to touch down again. I've got to be out there, with him. Tell Joan that I love her, and that I hope she never forgets me. You'll probably find her in my bed tonight. I'm sorry I couldn't stay. We will see each other again, I promise._

_ I love you, Rose"_

When he reached the end, the Doctor carefully folded up the note before handing it back to Rose. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he looked at her intensely, trying to gauge what she was feeling. She met his gaze with her soft brown eyes; watery but unwavering. "I'm not. I was going mad on Earth. Other Earth, Pete's World, whatever you want to call it. I love my family, but the world was just so...small. I swear, if I had to spend another year there, another day, I would've gone nutters. I couldn't live without..." she paused, bringing a hand up to his cheek, feeling the tiniest amount of stubble there, "this, without this." The Doctor ran his hand through his hair and then rested it over hers. "Never think for a second that I could have either. Oh no, not possible." He then unleashed a massive grin that reached all the way to his glasses. She felt relief wash over her _He wanted her here_. Rose felt a laugh erupt from her chest at the insanity of it all, a laugh that turned into a yawn before she could stifle it. "Oi, time vortex travel makes you completely knackered." She smiled up at the TARDIS for a moment before shaking her head, keeping herself awake. For all she knew this was just a beautiful dream, and if she nodded off she would wake up back in her bedroom in Not-London. So she was determined to linger in the Doctor's room with him as long as she could.

"Alright then, in you come!" Before Rose knew what had happened, the Doctor had pulled the duvet out from under her and thrown it over her head. Baffled, she scrambled to find her way to out. When she resurfaced a moment later, the nine-hundred-and-some-odd-year-old brunet had removed his glasses and relaxed back into the bed with his right arm pulled under his head. He watched, laughing as she reemerged with her golden hair all askew. Since he didn't seem to mind, Rose settled into the bed herself, wiggling about until she was an arm's length from the Doctor's left side. Silence settled for a moment in the space between them.

"Are you really here?" The Doctor broke the quiet. He looked away from Rose in favour of staring at the ceiling, and she could easily tell that he was doing his damnedest to keep his voice emotionless. And failing. In answer, she slipped an arm under his slim frame and pulled herself flush against his side. His free arm now cushioning her head, she reached up to grab the hand so naturally draped across her shoulder. The angle was unusual, but she pulled their joined hands downwards until they rested over her heart. "Cybermen invasion?" Rose was crying for what felt like the millionth time that day, but tears of joy rarely were something she rarely got tired of. "Takes more than that to get rid of me, Doctor." He squeezed her hand in response and closed his eyes, content and exhausted. The TARDIS was low on energy and he could feel it in himself, so he let the gentle metronome of Rose Tyler's singular heart beating against his hand and pounding in his ears lull him to sleep.

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	5. Little Did She Know

Disclaimer- RTD may have my soul, but I have...zip zilch.

Title- Part of Her

Chapter Five

Rating- T ( Could possibly change in future chapters)

Time- Set prior to established Series Four. I'm sending Donna home for a while. Not 'cause I don't love her, but I don't need her (perfect) comic relief right now. I will bring her back at..some...point.

Author's Note- Hi there. Ever gone on an accidental hiatus? Cause apparently I just did. Yeah. Sorry. My house has been overrun by seven people and two dogs. For the last two months. Please.. kidnap me. Anyway, here is a sad, short chapter. But I love this chapter regardless of size. So enjoy and thank you so much for still reading :)

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Part of Her

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In the middle of a dream about juggling bananas (that would be very large bananas that juggled things) the Doctor awoke suddenly. Still hazy from sleep, he felt the gears spinning in his very large brain. He knew that he had been woken up on the cusp of a revelation. There was something _important_ he had realized in the midst of his sleep, important enough to shake him from a particularly humorous dream. As he was digging through the archive that was his head in the hopes of remembering, he made the mistake of looking at the sleeping figure next to him. Or rather, half on top of him. At some point during the night Rose had turned her body so her chest and abdomen were flush against his side. Her left leg rested between his two, their feet mingling together, and he noticed that his own treacherous right hand was resting comfortably on the curve of her hip. He did his best to pull it back to the safety of his side of the bed but couldn't get it to budge. _Cheeky regeneration hand._ As he forced his thumb not to toy with the waistband of (very tiny) shorts, the Doctor got his first good, uninterrupted look at his...Rose. Her short frame was a bit slimmer, the point of her chin sharper and her once-soft cheekbones more pronounced. He could feel the tiniest jut of her hipbone beneath his betraying fingertips. He imagined that if he were to touch her stomach (which he was _not_ to do) he would feel the tight planes of defined abdomen muscles._ I've forgotten what I was trying to remember. _ The Doctor turned his hungry eyes to her blonde tresses, determined to drink in as much as possible in the stillness of the TARDIS' night settings. Rose had traded in her heavily bleached locks for a more natural golden hue, and it floated down her back in long wavy layers, more length than he had ever seen on her. She was beautiful.

Aside from the more delicate hairstyle (and looking like she had missed a few too many meals) the Doctor couldn't help but notice that Rose looked like she hadn't aged a single day. Just as he felt the wheels in his head pick up a bit of speed, Rose pulled herself impossibly closer to him and wrapped an arm tightly around his waist and he felt his brain sputter to a halt. Knowing that he had just been defeated by a tiny blonde that wielded irrationally strong hugging powers even in his sleep, the Doctor closed his eyes and settled back into his bed, cheeky regeneration hand still grasping a certain hip protectively.

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Chips. Rose could have sworn she was asleep, but the indisputable scent of fresh, greasy chips was fighting its way into her senses somehow. She opened one bleary eye and saw the Doctor peering down at her, a wrapper of chips in one hand and a tall cup of what smelled like black tea in the other. She closed her eyes and pulled the blanket back over her head, determine to sleep a bit longer. "Five minutes, Doctor." He ignored her protests, instead jumping over her and onto his side of the bed and somehow not spilling anything. "Yeah, course, no problem." The Doctor grinned to himself. No matter how long he was away from Rose, he knew one way to get her out of bed "I can finish these chips off by myself." He waited a beat. Then another. Slowly, the mass under the covers moved upwards until Rose's head was exposed and she fished her arms out from underneath. For the first time in years dear god did she want chips. The Doctor brought his tea to his lips and drank, at the same time handing the chips off to his counterpart. She grabbed a chip quickly, recoiling from the heat the Doctor seemed not to have noticed. She shoved her thumb in her mouth for few moments, soothing it. When she removed it noticed a brilliant red blister starting for puff up from the burn. The Doctor was still drinking his tea, totally oblivious. Cursing to herself, she looked at the wrapper carefully, examining it while shoveling less-hot chips into her mouth. Rose Tyler never forgot a chip wrapper, and this one was hiding somewhere in the back of her mind. "Doctor, have I had these chips before?" He nodded his shaggy head in response, now reading a newspaper he seemed to have pulled out of thin air. "Are we in Cardiff!?" The Doctor grinned at her. _Leave it to Rose's power of chip-related deduction._ "Yep-p. She needs a bit of rift energy to get her fuel cells charged up again. Have her off the ground in a day or so" Rose squirmed excitedly in her seat, waking up now."Oh I love Cardiff! I was here like, what now, four years ago. I went back to this chippy, its the same one we went to with that slitheen woman, isn't it? Oh god these are _still _brilliant." Rose looked up from her feast, to see that the Doctor had completely blanched. He was looking at her with a baffled expression, like he had no idea what she had just said. "Rose, _we_ were only in Cardiff three years ago." Suddenly, the wheels and gears that had been putting along last night in his brain exploded to life, spinning around faster than he could ever remember. He dropped the paper and turned to face Rose completely. "How long have you been in Pete's World?" Rose laughed at him like it was the most obvious question in the world "Six years." She saw his eyes widen and watched him gripped his cup tighter. "Why, Doctor? How long have I been gone?" She gave another, half-hearted laugh, still confused.

"We were at Canary Wharf two years ago, Rose. You've only been gone two years." Without a second's hesitation, the Doctor launched into problem solving mode. "I just landed us here in what I thought would be your modern day. Cardiff on March 23rd, 2008." He passed her the discarded newspaper which confirmed the date. "But thats mad. I left on March 22nd, 2012. How can that make any sense? Doctor?" He had whipped out his sonic screwdriver and was now running it along the perimeter of her body, listening as it buzzed and bleeped in a language only he could understand. He spoke again, so fast that she wasn't she if he was talking to her or himself. "Time is never constant. Sometimes a day in one place is a few seconds in another and sometimes its a year. It would appear that time goes, oh I don't know, sixty-six percent faster in the alternate-dimension Earth. But thats not what I'm worried about." He shone the screwdriver's tip into her eyes and Rose had to blink through the blue light. "What I am worried about is why, six years into the future, my screwdriver is reading that you have not aged a day. And why that blister you don't think I saw has already healed itself." He took her hand and turned it palm-side up. Sure enough, her thumb was as smooth and flawless as ever, no sign of the burn she had received only minutes before. The Doctor took the screwdriver away from her eyes and quirk an eyebrow, waiting to see if Rose had anything to say.

"Erm, yeah. About that." Rose groaned inwardly, hoping to put this off at long as possible. "Apparently I'm Wonder Girl?"

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A/N Yeah, I'm a bitch. But seriously, what is an author who does not cliffhang? And no, she isn't really Wonder Girl.


	6. Never Know Until

Disclaimer- RTD may have my soul, but I have...zip zilch.

Title- Part of Her

Chapter Six

Rating- T ( Could possibly change in future chapters)

Time- Set prior to established Series Four. I'm sending Donna home for a while. Not 'cause I don't love her, but I don't need her (perfect) comic relief right now. I will bring her back at..some...point.

Author's Note- Enjoy and review and please steady yourself for a bit of angst

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Part of Her

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While Rose was trying to figure out just how to explain her certain uniqueness to the Doctor, a certain captain with a similar situation found himself running off in the direction of a certain siren...

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Plan A for Rose was simple._ Change The Subject. Fast._ "So why exactly are we in Cardiff, Doctor?" Rose smiled innocently, tilting her chin up towards him with her sweetest expression she could muster. The Doctor raised one eyebrow, and Rose felt her attempt fall flat.

"The ship needs a bit of an energy boost after yanking you about." Her companion spoke exaggeratedly slow, clearly humoring her. "Now," he paused to pick up her previously-injured hand, running his fingers absently along her burnless thumb. _And_ _Plan B just became think straight. _"What kind of wonder are you, Miss Tyler?" Her sweet facade faltered before crumpling totally, and she found herself avoiding the Doctor's glance while she spilled her secret.

"I don't know. I really, really don't. From the moment I landed in Pete's World I was a sodding mess. I hardly ate, wouldn't talk to anyone. I stayed in my bed for almost a month. I know it was dumb because I had a bigger family than ever, but I just felt so alone. I actually counted once and I didn't eat a thing for nearly two weeks. I just didn't care." Rose pulled her free hand through her blonde hair and continued, still not looking at her Doctor. " But then I finally dragged myself out of bed. And Mum told me how fantastic I looked?" She peeked up at him and found that confusion and worry was plastered all over his face. "So I looked in the mirror and sure enough, I was practically glowing. Bit thin maybe, but I hardly looked like I had been under any stress at all."

"So this is when you realized that you recovered faster than you used to?" The Doctor asked carefully. When Rose met the Doctor's deep brown eyes, he felt his hearts sink. She shook her head with one quick burst and rearranged there hands so she their palms rested together. As Rose began talking, her serious tone took him by surprise.

"We were dealing with a group in London claiming to be Torchwood Five and stealing money from citizens that needed our help." She straightened the rumpled fabric of her shorts and continued with a steadying breath. " The most convincing part of their charade was their arsenal, big guns that looked very... old Torchwood. So when we had finally tracked them down outside some quarry or another they were heavily, heavily armed. I got there before the rest of my unit to find lots of army-grade vehicles and and people rushing about trying to get gone before we arrived. I was supposed to wait out at a specific rendezvous point for the rest of the team, but of course a scout saw my SUV." She gripped her best friend's hand even tighter and looked him square in the face. "I was shot six times in the chest. The group was gone by the time my unit got there and I was nowhere to be found, so they assumed I had been nabbed by the criminals. They called my dad at headquarters and everyone broke apart into search parties." At this point they both had tears rimming their eyes, but Rose refused to stop now. "I woke up half a day later in a fifteen-foot ditch in a dried pool of my own blood. I climbed out of the hole and felt...fine. Doctor, I had died the night before and I felt _fine_." Suddenly, Rose what hit with a wave of fear. What if he wouldn't want her now. The Doctor was never a fan of anomalies, and what other way was there to describe her? As she fought to keep back a sob at the thought, her not-ginger Doctor did something unexpected. He took both of her hands in his own and lifted them to his lips to place a kiss on her knuckles.

"Wonder Girl." The Doctor smiled at his Rose and did his best to erase the sadness that was filling up both of them, keeping it at bay. _For now, at least_. Rose gave a tiny chuckle and he felt her hard demeanor soften, watch her full lips curl up into a smile containing only the tiniest hint of rue. Dear lord how he wanted to touch those lips. A lot. And often. _You do not want to kiss her. Repeat, do not want to kiss Rose Tyler completely and utterly senseless. And then feed her a banana, and kiss her more. You want none of that. Really._

A loud banging from the control room brought the Doctor from his thoughts and made Rose jump nearly a foot off the bed. "Who could that be?" The Time Lord mused aloud. "Its not as if there's anyone in Cardiff who would notice the TARDIS. Is there?" With a nagging feeling that there was something, like usual, he was forgetting, the Doctor motioned for Rose to stay where she was and headed out to answer the door.

Thirty seconds or so passed with Rose hearing only faint murmurs from the control room. Then without warning a boisterous, bellowing laugh emerged from the entryway. As the sound tapered off, Rose focused on the dying laugh. _I have absolutely heard that before. _Suddenly an imaged filled her brain, all perfect smile and dimpled cheeks and eyes filled with chagrin. Her heart skipped a beat so hard she swore she felt it against her chest. Running towards the sound, Rose hoped to god she wasn't the only person in the Doctor's life to defy death.

"Jack?"

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A/N- So I was always under the impression that Rose thought Jack was dead after the whole Bad Wolf thing. This may be wrong but I'm going with my thought for the sake of making their reunion that much more fun. And its not really a cliffhanger for once, yay. Sorry about the angst, but it isn't over yet.


End file.
